One commonly employed process currently utilized to form sheet metal casket shells is as follows: Two side panels are blanked from a coil of sheet steel (or other suitable sheet metal), and two end panels are blanked from the coil. Next, both side panels and both end panels are stamped to form the desired cross-sectional profile of the shell side walls and end walls. Next, the four walls are loaded onto a weld fixture and welded together by welders, and finally the four welds are ground smooth with grinders. At some point along the way a bottom wall or panel is welded to the side walls and the end walls. The corners of the casket shell are typically formed as a part of the end panels. Thus, the weld lines where the side panels are welded to the end panels are located on the ends of the side panels, thus being visible when the casket shell is viewed from the front (or rear).
This current process of forming sheet metal casket shells includes a number of disadvantages. Each panel requires at least one blanking operation along with one or two stamping operations. The sheets must be loaded into a first press to be blanked, and then moved to a second press to be stamped. The panels are then moved to a new location where they are loaded onto a fixture that holds the panels in the correct assembled orientation. Each corner is then welded either manually or robotically. The corners contain intricate profiles which add complexity to the welding operation. The welded shell is then moved to a new location where each weld is manually rough ground. Because of the intricate profiles the grinding must be done at a slower pace to insure that only unwanted weld is removed. The shell is then placed on line where the corners are eventually manually finish sanded. All of these operations are labor intensive, and because of the repeated handling of the parts, the parts are susceptible to dents and dings. The welding operations require energy for the welder and consume welding wire. The grinding and sanding operations require energy, consume numerous sanding discs, and produce dust and debris.
It is desirable to improve upon this current method of forming sheet metal casket shells.